Don't Leave Me
by 0Verdigris0
Summary: The Gale Force arrive, leaving complicated effects in their path. Is it possible to cope after an event like this? Fiyeraba.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own NOTHING from Wicked. If I ever put something in that I DO own or have made up, I'll be sure to let you know. But until then, everything you recognize I have no ownership over.**

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A figure moved quickly through the streets of the Emerald City, its head bowed, eyes fixed on the ground. Whoever it was clearly had somewhere urgent to be, and didn't want to be followed, for it kept glancing over its shoulder like a fleeing animal.

The figure wore long dark skirts, as though it was a maunt. Obviously a female, then. She also wore elegant tight-fitting gloves, big steel-toed boots, and had chosen to cover her face with a dark purple and gold scarf. As though she didn't want to be recognized.

Even though this should have been a dead giveaway to everyone that the figure was up to no good… at least to the so-called 'law', the few people in this disreputable area who spotted the woman, they found it unimportant, looked away, and almost immediately forgot that they had in fact seen her.

Soon, people were no longer on the streets that the woman hurried through, for she was now in a district mostly inhabited by warehouses, and it was too late for any workers to be still around. After hours, as it were. The woman, sensing this, lowered her mouth slightly, uncovering her nose so as to breathe better. If seen from the side, it would have looked as though her nose was half of a pair of scissors, ready to cut down anybody who got in the woman's path.

But many warehouses, almost all in fact, closed after dark. So their workers could find their ways back to their residential district, lights had been installed along the streets and, whenever the woman neared one, she pulled the scarf back over her face and turned away from it. Obviously, even with nobody being on the streets, she didn't care to risk being recognized. Or stopped from reaching her destination. As the two obviously went hand-in-hand, she was taking every precaution against it.

When she neared her destination, the woman broke into a sprint, forgetting to duck away from the lights. Almost as though she didn't care any more. Luckily, her scarf was still covering her face. If that piece of cloth hadn't been there, and anybody had been around, she would have been most likely shot right away. That was the problem with being so obviously in the resistance. You were constantly a target in this beautiful, false city.

Running up to a large warehouse, the woman unbolted a hidden entrance, slipped in, closed it behind herself. She began to dash up the stairs, only to stop halfway up. There were voices… and boot steps… coming from the hidden apartment upstairs. …Her hidden apartment, to be exact.

Flattening herself against the wall, she had a split-second debate with herself over leaving, like she would normally do, or investigating. The latter won; she at least had to know who was up there. Who had cracked her anonymity.

She managed to reach the top of the stairs before whoever it was finished whatever they were doing. The woman ducked into a lightless corner, covering every exposed inch of skin, once again, except her eyes, which had narrowed until they were merely thin slits.

As soon as the woman did this, about half a dozen men stormed out of the room, carrying a lifeless and bloody body between them. The woman took a half-step forward, towards them, but then stopped, her eyes narrowing even further. She had seen the man's face. But she wouldn't, couldn't, do anything about it. At least, not yet.

She, with a great difficulty, let them pass without revealing herself. But as soon as they had audibly exited the warehouse, slamming the visible entrance behind the last person, she began sprinting forward once again. To the hidden apartment that the men had just exited. Entering, her hands immediately clenched themselves into fists as a scowl appeared on the woman's face. Blood. Everywhere. They had done this to that man. And for that they would pay. Casualties were alright by her, merely a necessity. But murder, or at least attempted murder, was something that needed to be fought with fire.

And maybe she had gone insane. Bloodthirsty. Blood-hungry. But right now, only one thought was in her head. She had to get the man away from the Gale Force… For if she didn't, he would surely die.

Dashing out of the warehouse, she dropped the scarf, letting it only cover her face. Her dark eyes watched the men's retreating backs with hatred. She then shifted so the light caught her full in the face.

It was green.


	2. Chapter 2

The woman reached into her cape, her hands moving up and down as if priming something as she followed the group of men. Even though she stuck to the shadows and ducked down alleys when a man turned around to check for followers, the green woman didn't let them get too far ahead. Ahead meant loosing them. Loosing meant death; something which she would avoid at all costs.

Ducking down yet another alley, the woman was, for a few moments, grateful for her training. If her previous 'mission' hadn't been ruined by those small schoolgirls, she would have done the exact same thing she was doing now. But she had let herself be seen, so the Gale Force had moved to intercept her. Now it was on a much larger and more dangerous level. They had weapons too, as was evident by the amount of blood of the man they were leaving (and had left) behind.

Finally, they stopped in an area free from buildings, most likely to rest. Even to the soldiers, who trained night and day, carrying a body of a full-grown man for the distance that they had deserved a small rest.

The woman smiled, not kindly. Perfect.

She kept walking, but now used the alleys as an advantage, moving around the soldiers until she was in front of them. But she still stuck to the shadows in case she didn't get them all. The woman wouldn't risk them seeing any of her, for there were a select few people who would guess, and a select fewer, know, that it was she.

She slowly pulled a weapon out from underneath her cloak. It wasn't anything recognizable, for it was of the resistance and had been altered many times. It looked like a gun and, even though there were other uses for it, would tonight be used as one.

She closed one eye for better aim and after a few moments, fired. Immediately, a man fell without a sound. It was so quick and the men were so involved in other things that she managed to immediately shoot down two more before the three remaining noticed anything. How unobservant they were.

But that turned out to be only luck, for the three remaining men immediately took a defensive position with their backs in the center and facing three different directions .It looked almost comical. Almost, for the woman knew exactly how effective it would be.

And to add to the terrible odds, she had to reload. She paused a moment, before doing so and shooting the man facing her. Not the smartest, and she knew this, but she wouldn't have been able to shoot the two others in the position they were in. Immediately, the two other ones turned in her direction and fired. Luckily, they both went wide, but there was nothing for her to duck behind. They'd hit her soon enough. She just had to hit them first.

With that thought in mind, she shot once again, but only hit one man in the arm. Not enough to kill… yet.

The men shot at the woman again. One bullet missed widely, as the shooter couldn't see. The other one, unfortunately, hit her in the shoulder, causing an involuntary grunt of pain to fly from her lips. Her eyes widened as this happened, knowing what a mistake it was.

The men knew it too; they now knew where the woman was. But before they could shoot, a bullet flew from her location. It hit the wounded man in the neck, and he fell, motionless, to the ground. The other man glanced down at his fallen partner, giving the woman just enough time to move out of the path of the next bullet.

She shot again, but for the last time. The last man fell. Now they were all dead. All, that is, except for the man she had been trying to save. …Hopefully.

The woman waited for a few seconds, in the shadows, before ticking the weapon back into her skirts. Then, she ran over to the man, falling to hew knees at his side. She placed two fingers where his head met his neck; the easiest place to find a pulse, she had found. She pressed down slightly until she felt a heartbeat, and quickly removed her hand.

Immediately, she felt immense relief. She hadn't killed for nothing; he was still alive. And would stay so if she had anything to say about it.

Nobody would be coming to her location for many hours. It was deserted; nobody had heard the gunshots. The woman could afford a few moments of waiting before she decided what to do next.

While she thought about what to do, debated with herself over it, the woman absentmindedly pushed the man's hair back from his face, ran her fingers though it.

Having quickly reached a decision, she stood, only to hear and see the man stir. Dropping down again, she pressed him gently to the ground. If the man moved, he could hurt himself further. That couldn't happen.

But the man's eyes opened slowly, sleepily. He gazed up at the woman with unfocused eyes.

"…Fae…?"

"Yero."


	3. Chapter 3

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**Just sayin' :P**

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Elphaba watched her love with a guarded expression. Guarded, expressionless, because if she didn't, he would see exactly how frightened she was feeling. Fiyero could die. He was already on the brink of death. But she had to be the strong one. Especially now.

Fiyero hadn't said anything since that one soft and raspy word. He merely gazed up at Elphaba with unspoken, unfocused love. There was nothing else to say at the moment. And even that one word had tired him considerably.

Elphaba looked at him a moment longer, before her plan quickly changed. She couldn't save Fiyero; her training in the resistance had only included a very basic medical section. But she could tend to him - and herself - as best she could until she thought of a way to save him. Or somebody who could.

Immediately tearing off strips of fabric from the bottom of one of her many skirts, she scooted behind Fiyero, her hand remaining on his shoulder once he couldn't see her any more, to let him know that she hadn't left him.

And she never would.

Setting the strips of cloth she had already torn off onto a semi-clean patch of ground, Elphaba's hands gently moved to underneath Fiyero's shoulders. She gently lifted him slightly up, sliding her knees underneath him. He was ho slightly sitting up, his bloody head resting on her stomach.

After shifting the fully-grown man, Elphaba's shoulder was on fire. Her right hand moved up and examined the opposite shoulder as gently as possible. The bullet had gone completely through the very top of her shoulder, and for that Elphaba was thankful. No bullet stuck in the wound, and minimal bleeding. Knowing that helped her put it as out of her head as possible. She could focus on tending Fiyero now.

Elphaba bent over so as to pick up the makeshift bandages, only to almost drop them as she heard Fiyero's voice once again. Apparently there was something important to say now, for they both knew that talking would only make him more tired.

But he talked anyway, despite Elphaba's halfhearted attempt at quieting him.

"Fae… I'm sorry… Before I go, you should know…"It was obviously painful for him to breathe, causing Elphaba to suspect one or more broken ribs. "I followed you earlier. And then… I couldn't find you, so I went back to the apartment…"

But now Elphaba had heard enough. With shaking hands, she pressed a finger to her lover's lips. Barely managing to keep her stone-like expression and emotionless voice, she spoke softly to him.

"Shh, my hero. My sweet. My Fiyero. You're not going anywhere." Her voice was flat, leaving no room for anything otherwise, thoughts or words. And yet, it still managed to be loving. "Just sleep now, while I figure out what to do." She bent down, pressing her lips as gently as she could to his own, in a sort of upside-down kiss. The green woman then gently closed Fiyero's eyes, despite his halfhearted protest. "Don't argue, my love."

She waited a few moments until his breathing became regular again. He fell asleep quickly; he must have been exhausted. With good reason, Elphaba knew. But enough time had already been wasted. She had to tend to Fiyero _now_, if he was to have any chance at all of living.

She picked up the clock once again, and adjusted Fiyero's head slightly. He had obviously been hit over the head and on his chest and sides. No bullet wounds, like she had previously suspected. Thank… Thank whoever. Whatever. Thank nothing.

Elphaba kept herself busy wrapping Fiyero's head to stop the steady flow of blood coming from it. She tried to be as gentle as possible, for as he was on death's doorstep, Fiyero obviously (at the very least) had a very, _very_ serious concussion. Any movement, be it necessary or not, would cause him pain, even though he was asleep. By now, Elphaba wouldn't have been surprised if he had been unconscious as well.

After wrapping his head up tightly, Elphaba continued to his chest, often having to rip more fabric off of her skirts. Once his chest was sufficiently bound, all blood being stopped, Elphaba's skirts were considerably shorter. Luckily, the green was masked by opaque leggings. They could get out of their current location. To get further help.

Sighing, Elphaba gently eased herself out from under Fiyero, but kept him from lying back on the ground. She staggered to her feet, pulling him up with her. She then began moving as quickly as possible, half carrying, half dragging him. All the while being careful not to hurt him any further.

She moved down the streets of whatever district she was in, steadily away from her scene of murder until, exhausted, she came across the perfect hiding and resting place. Underneath a bridge.

Sliding down the slope, she hurried underneath it. The river-slash-stream that used to run underneath it had long since dried up. No danger of water. Setting Fiyero down near a support, Elphaba kissed his forehead gently.

She then sat down, leaning against the same support. Only a few feet away from Fiyero.

It was time to think of what to do next.


	4. Chapter 4

For the next half hour, idea after seemingly brilliant idea ran through her head, only to be shot down, one after another. There were just too many variables working against them. And it wasn't just variables. _Everything_ was working against them. There was the Gale Force, the Wizard, Elphaba's obvious verdigris, and Fiyero's life-threatening injuries, to name just a few. That's how it had always been, and Elphaba had always managed to muddle through. But it seemed nothing could get them out of this, no matter how hard she tried.

But she would _keep_ trying. Even though it seemed he _would_ die, she couldn't - and wouldn't - let that happen. Elphaba had a few more hours until the first rays of sunlight appeared in the Ozian sky, and she would take full advantage of that.

Lapsing back into her thoughts, another half an hour passed. She was only brought back to Oz by a bit of movement catching her eye. She glanced over, only to see Fiyero's breathing becoming more and more labored. And on top of that, he was shivering. Ozdamnit.

Getting quickly to her feet, Elphaba hurried over to her love, kneeling beside him once again. She brushed his hair back from his face once again, sighing. Wrapping her arms around him, she gently dragged him to against the support, being careful not to jostle him any more than was absolutely necessary.

Once he was in a sort of sitting-up position, Elphaba sat back down next to him. She didn't wrap her arms around him to provide him with the little heat she possessed, for it would only make him colder when she didn't hug him.

Leaning slightly against Fiyero, Elphaba pulled her knees into herself, and fixed her gaze on a random object in front of her. Another idea had popped into her head, and it just might work. But she was trying to find a reason not to. For, the idea revolved around something she really _really_ didn't want to do.

But as the minutes ticked by, Elphaba knew she would have to. There wasn't time to figure out an alternative, as it had taken her over an hour to come up with this one. So she'd just have to do it. Muscle through, as it were.

Looking over at Fiyero, Elphaba got to her knees again, leaning over him. She pressed her lips to his, her hand resting on his cheek. Despite her stony appearance, the green woman felt it deeply when he did not respond. But even so, she moved away after a moment, her dark eyes watching Fiyero. At least his breathing had stabilized.

"Don't worry, my hero. I'll be back for you soon. Stay safe, for me." Her voice almost too soft to hear, but somehow, Elphaba knew that Fiyero had heard. Somehow.

She got to her feet and, with one last look at Fiyero, her love, walked out from underneath the bridge and into the night.


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as Elphaba had reached the top of the slope that was the river, she began sprinting north. She had only ever seen the building that was her aim once before, and wasn't sure if she could find her way from this district. But she had to try. And she wouldn't give up. And if that meant running nonstop until she found the building, so be it. It would be done. She was completely focused on that one goal, for if Fiyero died, Elphaba couldn't see herself moving on.

_**X**_

Several minutes after Elphaba had left, footsteps were once again heard on the dry riverbed. The riverbed was hardened and cracked mud, but it still managed to produce the sound of footsteps on concrete. The footsteps grew louder and louder, until whoever it was was obviously walking directly underneath the bridge.

The figure whom the footsteps belonged to walked directly over to Fiyero, almost as though it had known he (and Elphaba) were and had been there. It stopped in front of Fiyero, and began rummaging inside a bag of some sorts that hung at its side.

Soon, it pulled out a blanket. Why it had a blanket? Obviously to make Fiyero warmer. It mist have been its purpose, for he had known Fiyero was underneath the bridge, after all. Laying it on Fiyero, the figure watched his shivers gradually diminish until there was none, and then turned, and walked away, seeming to disappear into the shadows.

_**X**_

Her running took her through her gruesome scene of murder after a few moments. She however didn't stop, merely shuddering and continuing to sprint. One goal. Just that one goal.

She ran out of the warehouse district, and into several residential ones. But she still didn't stop. These were too cheap to have the one building she was looking for. So she kept running. District by district, Elphaba noticed the houses gradually growing bigger and more extravagant. She'd be close, soon.

In only a few more moments, Elphaba knew she was in the right one. District, that is. It was extremely small, but each mansion was the size of a small district within itself. It contained the Palace. But, more importantly, it contained the building in which Elphaba needed to go.

She began walking through, and at each and every house, she stopped and studied it for a few moments, before continuing on. And soon, she found the one. Her target's rest-of-the-year mansion. There was a summer one, and one in which the target used for the rest of the year. Seeing as it was Autumn, the target would be in. Sleeping.

Perfect.

Elphaba's twig thin body quickly slipped through the gates, and she began running again. It was still black outside, and as she was in black, it was next to impossible to spot her. Soon, she had made it inside the house. Everybody was sleeping, she knew. The target didn't believe that they would be kidnapped or assassinated, so they let their hired help sleep when they did. Even though Elphaba meant her target no harm, she couldn't help but think about what a bad idea that was.

Running up the stairs, she began silently exploring. It shouldn't be too hard to find the room she needed. …And it wasn't. Finding it almost instantly, she silently opened the door, noting somewhat amusedly that it wasn't locked, and slipped in. As an afterthought, she locked it behind herself.

She was now in a bedroom. An extravagant one, at that. A large king-sized bed was in the center of the room, against the wall, and there were several other pieces of furniture. And several adjoining rooms, plus a balcony. Elphaba took half of a moment to gag at the prettiness and cuteness of it all, before getting back to business. Moving, almost catlike, towards the bed, Elphaba watched the person sleeping in it as she moved to the head of it.

Elphaba bit her lip to keep from speaking. To keep from sighing. For what she saw made her remember so many times long ago. Times that should have been forgotten.

She leaned over the bed, her hands moving so they were above certain parts of the body. Elphaba hesitated for a fraction of a second, taking a moment to pull the scarf back over her face so only her eyes were visible and it was impossible to tell that she was green, before quickly darting down to cover the selected areas. Glove-covered hand covered the target's mouth, and glove-covered hand covered the target's eyes.

"Don't you dare move." Her voice was low, emotionless, and unrecognizable.


	6. Chapter 6

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As soon as the words left Elphaba's mouth, she felt the person's eyes open through her gloves, due to their long eyelashes. She knew that the person would struggle, even after her warning not to.

Inevitably, the person immediately tensed up and began thrashing. Elphaba had to crawl awkwardly onto the bed in order to not let the person see her. Even though now the verdigris was hidden successfully between her hat and scarf, she wouldn't risk it.

But as the person began attempting to slap and hit her on the face and upside the head, luckily not pulling her scarf down, Elphaba realized she'd have to. She watched the person's hands, dodging whenever one came near her head. After a few moments, she saw an opportunity. Quickly moving the hand that covered the woman's eyes off of them and grabbing both wrists, she shoved into the bed so as to immobilize her. But then the green woman found herself eye-to-eye with her target. Brown to blue. She blinked a few times, but kept her eyes emotionless.

But the person kept struggling, now also biting Elphaba's hand. Dreadfully annoying. And on top of that, her wounded shoulder, something she had managed to keep out of her head until just now, was paining her more and more. To retain her advantage, she'd have to talk to the woman. She would have anyway, but she had helped to wait until the person had calmed down. She'd have to attempt to reason with them before they immediately called the guards on her.

"Glinda."

Immediately, the blonde paused, then continued struggling a bit more half-heartedly, all the while glaring up at Elphaba with an expression of unadulterated hatred.

Elphaba bit her lip, and continued, her voice remaining low. "I'll let you go if you promise not to scream. I'll explain everything, but if you scream, I reserve the right to slap you. Do we have an agreement?" And here, Glinda nodded slowly, her expression unchanged. "Alright."

Hesitating for half of a second, Elphaba then let go of Glinda's wrists and removed her hand from her mouth. The green woman then scurried backwards, keeping her eyes emotionless. She was just waiting for Glinda to scream for her guards, expecting it to happen almost instantly.

But it seemed Glinda had gained some sense in the time Elphaba had spent in seclusion, for she didn't scream, merely got up from the bed, adjusted her already perfect hair, and rubbed her wrists. Knowing that Elphaba, but not knowing it was she, really meant what she said about the slap, she decided to calmly question her.

Not calmly. That flew out the window the moment she opened her mouth. "Oh my Oz! Who in Oz name _are_ you and why did you see fit to come into my _house_ and my _rooms _and make like you were about to kidnap me and who knows what _else_? You're lucky I have a public appearance today, or I really _would_ scream!"

But she didn't consider that big of a threat, having received déjà vu upon hearing Elphaba's voice, and merely trotted over to a large full-body mirror. She began fixing her hair in it; something Elphaba knew could and would take several hours. Not forgetting about Elphaba, who had now sat on the bed, she coldly addressed her once again.

"Who the hell are you. Don't you dare _think_ I'll let you off without you telling me at least that."

Elphaba fingered her scarf for a few moments. What the hell; Glinda would find out anyway. Might as well get it over with now. With that thought in her head, Elphaba slowly pulled the scarf down from around her face and then from around her neck, so it lay in her lap. She sat there, her verdigris showing, waiting for the Upland to notice.

After a few moments, Glinda whirled around. "Why didn't you_ answer_…" Then her hand went up to cover her mouth, tears springing instantly to her eyes. "…Elphie?"

She took a few hesitant steps to the bed, touched Elphaba's cheek with a manicured finger. Realizing that she was indeed real, she then enveloped her in a large mother-like hug, the force of which causing the green woman to fall backwards on the bed, crushed. She stiffened, then allowed Glinda about thirty seconds of a hug, before she pushed her off.

Immediately, Glinda started talking. "Why did you _leave_, Elphie? Poor Nessa was so distraught, not to mention Fiyero and me! We all thought you would get yourself killed; I even lit a candle for you! And now you're back! I don't think-"

But here Elphaba clamped a hand over the blonde's mouth once again, her eyes turning back into steal. "We'll catch up later. I'd rather we didn't, but I'm obviously not going to be able to get out of it if you're going to do what I request. Right now I need a favor, Glinda. Stop talking."

She removed her hand and, hearing nothing, nodded and continued. "Fiyero is hurt. Extremely. I need you to send a few men with some sort of stretcher to the large bridge near the warehouses. He's underneath. He's dying, Glinda. I need you to get them to bring him back, and then he and I will borrow one of your carriages and travel to your summer house. Ask later, right now I need you to just _do_ it."

Glinda blinked once or twice, processing. Then, she jumped to her feet. "OH MY OZ! Underneath the Holborn Bridge??" She then dashed out of her rooms, hollering at the top of her lungs. "James! Edward! Aidan! Clark! Get over here this very insant!"

Almost immediately, four men ran into the main hall from different directions. They watched Glinda, waiting. "Grab something large enough to carry a fully grown man, immediately after I'm done. There is an old friend of mine under the Holborn, and you four are going to go get him, and _not_ be seen! He's wounded, and unconscious I bet. Hurt him further and I'll do the same to you! _AM I CLEAR??_" The four nodded. "NOW GO!"

As soon as they were out of sight, Glinda hurried back up to her rooms, closing and locking the door behind herself. She sat down beside Elphaba, who hadn't moved a muscle. "I'll do all of that, on one condition; I'm coming too. Dearest, you know you'll need me, despite my uselessness. I can be useful if I set my mind to it, and I know you will. So do you." She finally lapsed into silence.

Elphaba glanced sideways at her friend, nodding slowly. "Fine."


	7. Chapter 7

Glinda nodded, a satisfied look on her face. "I knew you'd agree, dearest."

But they both lapsed into a very tense silence, each not knowing what to say to the other. Glinda was waiting for Elphaba to explain herself, what was going on, but the green woman was completely focused on counting the seconds until the four men that the blonde had sent to the bridge returned. Every second in the dark was like torture to Elphaba, and even though it didn't show on her face, Glinda could easily tell.

Soon, the silence became too much for the blonde. But as Glinda opened her mouth to question Elphaba, the green woman interrupted as though reading her thoughts. "You should go get a doctor." She jerked her head towards the door in a dismissal that verged on the apologetic.

Glinda paused, obviously surprised at being dismissed in her own house. But then, with a long and lingering glance at the emerald woman, she nodded. "Alright, Elphie…. But you aren't getting out of telling me what's going _on_. I worry, especially after being told my friend and old _boyfriend_ is dying… And you showing up looking like you are… After so long…" But when Elphaba didn't even look up, she sighed, and left to find the nearest doctor.

As soon as Elphaba heard the click of the door shutting, she relaxed slightly. With a quick glance at it, she got to her feet, finally allowing herself to fully focus on her own wound. Pulling her scarf back up to cover her face, she quickly began tearing off even more strips of cloth from her many skirts. That was one advantage to wearing things in layers. Contrary to Glinda's popular belief that it was some sort of fashion trend, it helped to save lives.

Hopefully.

If those damned four men got back soon.

Untying her cloak, she flung it onto the large bed. Quickly and awkwardly wrapping the cloth around her shoulder as tight as possible, wincing every now and then. Nobody was made of stone, and even though Elphaba preferred pretending to be instead of showing her emotions, nobody could do that forever. Pain was one of the few things that almost always found a way through her mask. Luckily she had been able to get rid of Glinda, or the blonde would have found out about her shoulder. She didn't want any doctor touching her for fear that he might report back to the Wizard. And anyway, she could manage. The woman always had in the past. Once her shoulder was sufficiently bound up, Elphaba grabbed her cloak, quickly tying it back around her shoulder.

Then, bootsteps were heard, obviously moving quickly towards the room. The woman could faintly hear Glinda's high-pitched voice along with them. "Oh come this way, to my bedchambers. Doctor, you'll find it much better than the entry hall to treat my poor friend. Edward, Clark, you four, keep up!" She paused, as though listening to something. Most likely the doctor. "Of course it is better! I can assure you that there's _nobody in there_, and you would have been crowded halfway to _insanity_ with everybody looking over your shoulder!"

Elphaba had to admire Glinda's quick thinking. The blonde was obviously keeping herself occupied by mindlessly chatting with the doctor as though nothing were wrong. But she had read Elphaba's mind, in a sense. No doctor for her.

But where to hide? Elphaba's left hand - the unwounded side, as the right was in pain now - went up to her face, pulling the scarf back up. Keeping it there to avoid any unintentional spotting of verdigris, she dashed onto the balcony, pushing the sliding door closed and stepping away from the window just as the door to Glinda's main room opened.

Elphaba leaned against the wall, and, closing her eyes, slowly slid down it until she was sitting. Crossing her legs, she pulled her cloak tighter around herself before shifting slightly. It was impossible to hear what was going on, so she'd have to wait until the doctor left, and Glinda thought enough to figure out where she was.

And so she settled in to wait.


	8. Chapter 8

What seemed like only a few short moments later, Elphaba was jolted awake by somebody's hand on her shoulder, and a whispered 'Elphie?' Obviously Glinda, but having just woken up, the green took a few moments to realize this.

Her dark eyes watched the blonde, who had taken a few steps backwards out of surprised, with a somewhat confused expression. Then, realizing where she was and why, she turned back so she was facing forward, letting her face return to its emotionless state. Her eyes skimmed the landscape idly.

Finally she spoke. "What did the doctor say, then." Obviously a treatment would have been given, hopefully with some medicine. Treatment being something for his obvious broken bones and his head. Even though she hadn't let anybody know of her injuries, and as a result hadn't seen the doctor, she clung to the belief that they would both be alright. The one with the worst injuries had been seen, anyway.

Glinda put her hand on her neck for a moment, as though checking to see if she _could_ speak, before doing so. "Elphaba…" and here, she kneeled beside her friend, placing a hand on her unwounded shoulder, "the doctor was barely in time. Fiyero lost a lot of blood, and there was some internal bleeding as well…"

Elphaba, who had placed her head in her hands, suddenly looked up at Glinda, smacking her hands on the floor of the balcony and shrugging the blonde's hand off of her shoulder. Although her eyes were piercing, her voice was still oddly flat. "Get to the point."

Glinda swallowed a bit, then got back to her feet. "I… He's in a coma right now, Elphie…" And at this, Elphaba's left hand, her unwounded side, clenched into a tight fist as she practically jumped to her feet. "He's only half likely to make it. A fifty-fifty chance."

This was all Elphaba needed to hear. Whirling around in a cyclone of skirts and cape, she hurried into the main room, her eyes fixed on the bed.

Glinda gasped, only onw seeing the blood that Elphaba had been concealing with her cape. "Elphaba, stop this instant! You're hurt too??"

Elphaba didn't even turn around, and kept the dead even tone of voice she had been using. "Fiyero's. Go to that press conference you were talking about and leave me - and him - alone." Her voice shook slightly near the end, a fact that was not missed by Glinda.

The blonde sighed, slightly frustrated that Elphaba kept avoiding her questions, keeping her in the dark, and she _still_ didn't know what had even_ happened_. But she could tell how upset Elphaba was, despite her attempts at hiding it. So she would wait a bit before prying further.

"Alright Elphie. Don't know how you figured it was a press conference, but however you did, you're right. I'll make the arrangements for us leaving to the summer house while I'm away, and we'll leave tonight." She paused, then walked to the door, glanced backwards at Fiyero and Elphaba, and left to get and get ready.

As son as Elphaba heard the door click, she dashed over to it, turning the lock with yet another audible 'click'. Turning back around, she walked back to the bed in which Fiyero had been laid down, only to trip when she was only halfway there.

For a moment, she stayed down, her hands clenching into fists as a non-violent way to slightly lessen her frustration. Then, biting her lip, she got back to her feet. This time, she made it to the bed successfully.

Once there, she just looked at Fiyero. The doctor had changed the bandages, and she was glad to see that they looked more sanitary than her rags had been. There were several more items that would obviously be used for further treatments on a small table, along with a list on how to and when to administer them.

The emerald woman walked idly over to the small table, and picked up the list, beginning to read it. To anyone looking at her, although no one was, it would appear that she had lost interest in her lover. But that wasn't the case at all; she was just really good at distracting herself.

As she read, Elphaba's left hand came up to cover her mouth. These were treatments for those who were dying or didn't have good chances. Even though there was a fifty percent chance, and Fiyero could go either way, it appeared the doctor was less than optimistic. Dropping the list and not caring where it landed, for she wouldn't be looking at it again, Elphaba turned back around, walking quickly back over to the bed.

Once there, Elphaba looked back down at Fiyero. He could die. And at that thought, something inside the woman broke, and she fell heavily to her knees next to the bed. Being careful not to jostle the bed on which her lover's delicate form lay, she crawled onto it, lying on her side next to him.

With a trembling hand, Elphaba gently traced her emerald fingertips across her perfect lips. Drawing in a shaky breath, she then placed her palm on his cheek, leaving it there. He felt so cold... But air flowed through his lungs, and his heart continued beating. He was staying alive… And even though Elphaba didn't want the thought to come into her head, it came anyway. '_At least for now'_.

The woman had heard of people in comas being able to understand what was said while they were unconscious. Certain that this was the case with Fiyero, _knowing_ that it was, she began speaking, fighting to keep her voice even. For if she was weak when Fiyero was like this, he might give up.

"Fiyero, my hero. Yero. Listen to me. I need you to wake up as soon as you can, my love. I know it must be painful, but you're going to wake up and come back to me. Promise me that…" She broke off, then rested her head on a pillow, never letting her eyes leave Fiyero's face. She gently traced the contours of his features, before her eyes closed against her will, and she fell asleep against the fragile form of her lover.


	9. Chapter 9

Only a few short hours had passed before Elphaba's eyes snapped open, immediately taking on a look of suspicion. There were several things wrong with this picture. One, she was sleeping with her gravely ill lover. Two, something was just off, and she couldn't put her finger on it.

Suddenly feeling afraid for one of the few times in her life, Elphaba swiftly sat up, and took Fiyero's hand in her own. Pressing two fingers to his wrist, she closed her eyes in concentration as she felt for a pulse. And couldn't find one.

Cursing loudly, she bent over Fiyero, so her cheek was right over his lips. She didn't move until she felt his breath on her cheek. Thank Oz. She turned her head, and kissed him lightly on the lips, before getting off from the bed.

Now standing, her eyes narrowed to slits as she scanned the room to see what was off. Within seconds, her dark eyes spotted a scrunched up blanket in the corner of the room. She walked quickly over to the corner, picking it up as though it was rank.

It hadn't been here before, and judging from the blood on it, it had been brought in with Fiyero. The emerald woman would NOT risk a single thing when it came to saving her lover.

Setting the blanket on the balcony, Elphaba walked back over to her love, pulling the comforter up over his body and covering his mouth. The last thing she needed was for him to inhale any smoke.

Moving quickly back to the balcony, she pulled out a matchbox out of her skirts, something she had seen and swiped while on her way through the house. Striking it, a small flame instantly appeared. Elphaba let a grin appear on her face; she had always been entranced by fire.

But she dropped it. Directly on the blanket.

Instantly, a small flame appeared. She waited patiently, and it steadily began to grow. Too many conspirathy theories had jumped into her mind upon seeing the blanket for her to do anything less.

At least she knew she was insane. Crossed over that bridge long ago, by the looks of it.


	10. Chapter 10

**I did not like the length of my last update. At all. But I was about to go camping and had to get SOMETHING out there. Here's something to make up for it :)**

**And since I've had a few people ask me, yes, this mainly goes by the book. There is a bit of musical thrown in, hence Glinda and Fiyero dating a bit in the past. Originally that was a slip-up, her dating him in book-verse, but I made it work ;P**

**After you're done reading, I really would appreciate reviewsssss…**

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The flame quickly grew, spreading across the blanket. As Elphaba watched it, she allowed a small smirk to appear on her face, She made no effort to move away from the flame, for even though she was the driest being in all of Oz, she wasn't afraid of fire.

But then, noise was heard from the first floor. Extremely loud. Obviously the smoke could be smelled from down there, and somebody was either extremely angry, or merely coming to investigate. Luckily, the door had been locked. If Elphaba was spotted, things would go from terrible to even worse.

The woman moved away from the balcony, walking back into the main room. Just then, the door flew open and a wide eyed Glinda sprinted in. Even though the timing was off for a thought like it, Elphaba had to wonder how in Oz the blonde had managed to sprint through the house and up the stairs in heels of that size.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?"

"What in _Oz name_ are you doing!?"

"How the hell did you get _in_!"

Glinda breathlessly held up a key, her eyes slightly widened. "_Key_, you idiot! Now answer my questions!"

Elphaba partially turned around to look at the fire. "Hm, I suppose you'll want that put out. Just let it run its course, I don't want that blanket near Fiyero." And the flame was already dying, although the smell of smoke would remain for at least a few days. The smirk returned to Elphaba's face at how annoyed Glinda would be at that.

Glinda sighed, still trying to catch her breath. Her voice was extremely annoyed, and it sounded as though she were trying to reason with a small child. "Elphaba, the doctor said that that blanket was the only thing that kept Fiyero alive…"

Elphaba turned back around, her eyes sharp. "I don't give a damn what the doctor said. He didn't do anything to help Fiyero except change his bandages. I could have done that myself, given the right materials."

Glinda, noticing the sharp edge in Elphaba's voice, took a step forward. "Elphie…"

"Whether it helped him or not, I won't have anything that magically pops up near my Yero. He's a prince, Glinda, it could be another plot to kill him. A poison. A tracking device. The Gale Force could be tracking us through it. Or Madame Morrible. The Wizard. Who knows who ELSE it could be."

Glinda sighed, cutting in. "Elphie, stop it. You're sprouting conspirathy theories yet again. It was JUST A BLANKET."

Elphaba shook her head, then began to walk back to the balcony, completely ignoring Glinda. "It doesn't matter, I've saved you the trouble of being proven wrong." The fire had died down, and now it was merely a few ashes on the marble balcony. Walking over to it, she stepped on the faintly glowing crumbs with her steel-toed boots a few times, before bending over and sweeping them off the edge of the platform with her gloved hands.

Straightening, she moved back to Glinda, noting with slight satisfaction that she had gotten the last word in. But she didn't dwell on it; Fiyero needed to be checked on. Walking quickly towards him (and being partially followed by Glinda), Elphaba gently eased herself onto the bed, until she was sitting right next to her lover. Taking his large hand in her own, she gently held it for a few moments, before taking a glove off and feeling for his pulse.

After a few moments, she found it, considerably stronger than before. Thank Oz. The smoke in the condition he had been in could have killed him. But it didn't. Taking the blanket from his mouth and covering him with it, Elphaba leaned over, pressed another kiss to his lifeless lips, and then got up.

Now standing, she busied herself with putting her left glove back on. Her voice abrupt, trying to hide the sting she had felt when her love hadn't kissed her back, Elphaba spoke to Glinda. "So I presume the press conference is over. Go set up the carriage so we can leave."

But Glinda crossed her arms and stuck her chin up defiantly. "No."

Elphaba paused, her eyebrows raised, before she finished pulling the glove on and let her arms hang at her sides. "What?"

Glinda tilted her head to the side. "I believe you heard me, Elphie." Her voice wasn't angry, only mildly exasperated.

Elphaba closed her eyes slowly in an effort to calm down and not go off on Glinda then and there. Opening them after a moment, she spoke once again. "Why."

Glinda took a few more steps forward, placing her hand on Elphaba's arm. "I still have no idea what's going on, if you don't remember, Elphie. You're sending me off like some servant and purposely keeping me in the dark. I'll go get the carriage and everything, but once we get to my summer home, we're situating Fiyero, possibly changing his bandages if he needs it, and then you and I are taking a walk immediately after. And you _will_ answer my questions. Alright, Elphie?"

Elphaba didn't pull away from the contact Glinda initiated, a miraculous thing. She slowly nodded, "Fine. I suppose I owe you that much. But you might not like what you hear, Glinda. I've changed in the years since Crage Hall."

Glinda pulled her hand off of Elphaba's arm, obviously satisfied. She probably hadn't even heard Elphaba's last statement. "Well thank you, Miss Elphaba. So I'll go set everything up. It'll be an hour or two, though, so be prepared to wait." And she turned and, now happier, walked out the door. After a few moments, a click was heard as she locked the door, obviously snottily reminding Elphaba that she did, in fact, possess a key.

The green woman allowed herself to smile for a fraction of a second, before she whirled around and walked slowly back to Fiyero. Sitting back down at his side, she held his hand once again. Leaning over her lover, she pushed his hair away from his forehead, before somewhat straightening.

Running her thumb soothingly over the back of his hand, Elphaba stared lovingly at the face of her Yero.

"Don't worry, my hero. Soon we'll be away. Then, my love, you can heal. And we can be together again."


	11. Chapter 11

**I appologize for the long gap in between updates; it hopefully won't happen again.**

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What seemed like a short amount of time later, Elphaba heard the lock turning in the door, and voices. Men's voices. She slowly and silently got up from her place next to Fiyero, her hands slowly coming up to hover over her scarf. It was obviously Glinda - she would have told her if anybody else had a key. But why were there _men_ outside the door as well? Glinda hadn't thought to warn her, so there was no time to make it to the balcony without alerting them that she was in the room.

Then the door opened slowly, and when Elphaba saw the men whom Glinda had called to help earlier, her hands quickly grabbed her scarf and pulled it up so as to hide the fact that she was green, and she moved away, almost dance-like, to the corner of the room. Once there, she plopped herself into a cushioned chair, immediately growing motionless, her gloved hand holding the dark and patterned scarf directly over her face.

Glinda's hand moved to the light switch, flicking it off. Seeing James, Edward, Aiden and Clark's slightly confused looks, she smiled innocently. "Dearests, just think. When we move him, any drastic change in lighting might hurt his eyes. We don't want my dear Dean waking up with damaged eyes, now do we?"

If the situation hadn't been so spur-of-the-moment and somewhat frightening, Elphaba would have uttered a sarcastic remark. Dean? Obviously a code name for Fiyero. But where in Oz had it _come_ from?

Too late to think any more on that, as Glinda and the four men began to enter the room. Elphaba was suddenly thankful that Glinda had chosen to have at least one dark item of furniture; she blended in well with the chair she was sitting on. And the lighting only helped that.

The blonde didn't even glance in her direction, though, merely flounced with an obviously fake carelessness over to the bed, waiting for the four men, who carried a makeshift stretcher, to catch up with her. Once they did, she immediately took charge.

"Alright, Aidan, I want you at his left arm over THERE. Clark, you'll be right HERE at his right arm. I don't really care about which leg though, so Edward and James, just choose a leg and stick with it. Alright? One.. Two.. Three!" The four men picked Fiyero up as gently as possible, setting him on the board that resembled a stretcher.

Elphaba made a half move to rise from her chair, a death glare already on her face. How _dare_ they touch her Yero. Anybody except her was not alright. Allowing that incompetent doctor to pretend to help had been hard enough, but allowing this, knowing she had to, was torture. Silently settling back into her randomly chosen chair, Elphaba jackknifed herself closer to herself, her knees pulled in to herself. She was then motionless once again, merely watching. And glaring. Of course.

As soon as the blonde woman was sure that her four helpers weren't going to drop Fiyero any time soon, she began to shoo them out of her rooms. "Alright, we need to hurry now. To my carriage please!" The last part had been sung, a fact that made Elphaba cringe slightly. But it worked, the men hurried out of the room while being as gentle as possible to the still form of Fiyero. …Or Dean.

Glinda walked to the door, then paused, looking around her room. Seeing Elphaba, who was beginning to quickly rise out of her seat in order to follow, she cleared her throat, shook her head, and held up a hand to stop her friend. Glinda couldn't talk without letting everybody know that there was somebody in the room, but her face made it clear; Elphaba was not to follow. Yet, of course.

Walking out of the room and closing the door behind herself, Glinda followed her helpers to the carriage to situate her friend's lover.

Elphaba sat back down slowly, the glare having quickly returned to her face. She crossed her arms, planting her feet firmly on the floor, and looked away from the door. The woman's eyes were showing her frustration plainly, and it was focused on whatever happened to be in her line of vision - a mirror. Everything in Elphaba wanted to break the mirror - she had never liked them - but she resisted, knowing well that it would only upset Glinda. Glinda, who was doing so much by helping her and Fiyero.

Her dark eyes slowly shifted to a large clock, counting the painstakingly slow minutes as they ticked by, knowing that every one brought her closer to being with Fiyero again.

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	12. Chapter 12

After exactly thirty-seven minutes had passed - Elphaba had been counting - she heard the doorknob yet again. Her eyes flickered over to glare at it, abandoning her previous distraction of counting the endless amount of knots that made up the rug at her feet. There were 712 that she had counted so far, and Elphaba had made no headway. A very small part of her wanted to continue, but she knew that that was the least important thing she could be doing right now. Fiyero was _much_ more important than a Glinda rug.

A gloved hand pulled her scarf up once again to hide her emerald skin, but she instantly relaxed when Glinda's golden hair was made visible. The woman hadn't seen her yet, she was busy scanning the room.

Before Glinda saw her, Elphaba broke the frosty silence, her voice as sharp as possible. She was giving the blonde an obvious hint as to what her emotion and the look on her face were. Frustration. A glare. "OzDAMNit, Glinda. When was it part of your plan on getting us out to _separate Fiyero and me?_ With him in his condition as well!"

Glinda blinked a few times, obviously startled. Then, in a patient voice, as though talking to a child, she responded. "Well, Elphie-"

But Elphaba didn't have the time to listen to her friend at this point. Sweeping past the woman, Elphaba began walking quickly in the direction she could _feel_ that Fiyero was in.

But walking quickly, unfortunately, equaled running for Glinda, so the blonde began running after her friend, but didn't object. She understood the pressure that Elphaba was feeling, almost frighteningly so. She had never been in that position, but they had been so close in the past that it was as though she had been through the exact same thing.

'Had been' was the key term though, Glinda thought as she silently watched Elphaba. The emerald woman was a tornado of dark skirts and scarves, not even glancing behind herself to see if Glinda was following. There was a wall between them, and it was all Glinda could do to follow silently and hope that her friend would actually tell her what happened. But she had her doubts.

Once they were out of the large mansion, Elphaba, instantly spotting the carriage, shot into it as though the Gale Force was after her. A few moments later, Glinda arrived at the carriage, having obviously been left behind.

"Finally, what took you so long." The emerald woman's voice was crisp, but a hint of amusement could be heard.

Glinda rolled her eyes. "If you hadn't left me behind, Elphie, I wouldn't have taken this long. And you would have gotten to hear a reasonable explanation as to why that had to happen." She paused, studying her friend. "I'm not that dumb blonde you knew in college, Elphaba." With a slightly offended look on her face, Glinda stepped up into the carriage, motioning for the driver to go.

Fiyero laid on one side of the small room, with Elphaba directly across from his face and holding his hand tightly in both of her own. So Glinda sat across from his feet, leaning against the corner and refusing to look at Elphaba, even after an hour had passed with them traveling steadily North.

Through this time, the blonde had chosen to occupy herself with doodling in a book that looked an awful lot like a journal, and staring out at the scenery. Elphaba kept her eyes on Fiyero's face the whole time, never once looking away, never once letting go of his hand other than to wipe his forehead with a dry cloth when he got too hot.

But suddenly, Elphaba's head rotated to the left. She stared out the window for a moment, then in a voice hoarse from lack of use, spoke. "Stop it." Then, letting go of Fiyero's hand, she opened the door that was next to her and shot out of the carriage.

Glinda turned, and immediately lunged as though to pull Elphaba back in. Jumping out at the speed they were going was bound to injure her. But Glinda grabbed air, and as she looked out the now open door, she saw her friend sprinting for the trees.

"STOP THE CARRIAGE!" Immediately, the driver stopped the horses, and Glinda felt a small lurch. Fiyero was unaffected by it, and after Glinda double checked that he was alright, she stepped elegantly out of the carriage and looked in the direction Elphaba had dashed.

A few moments later, she heard her name being called, and walked over to the bushes her friend had disappeared in. "What, Elphie? We really do need to get back into the carriage…"

Elphaba was squatting over a patch of dirt, her hand tracing it gently. Looking up to watch the blonde, she spoke, her voice now cautious and steely. "Somebody was watching and waiting. For us."


	13. Chapter 13

"_What??_" Glinda's pale blue eyes instantly shifted to scan around them, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Looking back to Elphaba, who was concentrating on the dirt, she waited for a further explanation. Not getting one, she spoke up in a hesitant voice. "Elphie, are you sure?"

Elphaba stood up quickly, causing Glinda to take a startled step backwards. "I have to get back to Fiyero." Whoever it was had probably been the one to provide the blanket in which Elphaba still had so many conspirathy theories about. Or it could be the Gale Force.

That thought caused Elphaba to begin running back to the carriage, and as she passed Glinda, her hand found the blondes. The emerald woman paused for a split second, then continued running back. Fiyero could have worsened, or been killed, by whoever or whatever had been there. She was mostly pulling Glinda behind herself, but Elphaba didn't care. They had to get moving.

"Elphie, what in Oz name… How do you even _know?_" It was all Glinda could do not to fall flat on her face and to pick up her feet, as Elphaba was all out sprinting by now.

Elphaba remained silent, however, until they had reached the carriage. Bolting into it, Glinda could see that she was quickly checking Fiyero over, opening his eyes, feeling his pulse and breath. Coming to the conclusion that he was alright, she stuck a hand out at Glinda who hesitated for just a moment before grabbing it.

The blonde instantly regretted it, however, for she found the opposite wall of the carriage rushing towards her face almost instantly. Elphaba had pulled her in so hard, what with her tiny frame, that Glinda had been pulled too far. Luckily Elphaba grabbed her shoulder before the blonde ran into the wall.

The emerald woman's voice was low. "Tell him to get his ass in gear and get us _moving_." Then she turned and closed the door quickly before sitting down with an ungraceful 'whump.'

Glinda nodded, then immediately felt foolish. Elphaba wasn't paying attention to her anymore, of course. Rapping sharply on the wall over Fiyero's body, behind which the driver was, she called out. "Let's go, we're ready. Please hurry, I'd like to get to my summer house before summer is over if you don't mind." And then she looked pointedly over at Elphaba with a somewhat angry attitude. The woman was fixed on avoiding her questions. "Elphie, _answer me._ How did you know?"

Elphaba, who had returned to her previous position holding Fiyero's hand and staring at his face, sighed. Rotating her head so she could look at Glinda, the woman regarded her emotionlessly before shaking her head. "Because I saw whoever it was, you idiot." But her insult was very mild, for it was as though she didn't have the energy to argue.

"I felt as though somebody was watching, I looked over, I saw a figure staring at me, I saw it run, I ran after. Detailed enough for you?" She looked back to Fiyero, her voice steely now, but with sadness showing through. "Now leave me alone."

Glinda's mouth opened, but no sound came out. She was in shock, for Elphaba had answered her question with detail, and, was that _emotion_ showing through? The first - other than anger - since being reunited with her friend. Wow.

Leaning back in her chair, Glinda sighed loudly, making light of the depressing situation. "I suppose I can let you off the hook for a while. But Elphie, really, I do expect a long and engaging conversation with you the moment dearest Fiyero is settled in to my home."

Elphaba resisted the urge to roll her eyes, dropping her head slightly instead. "I _said_ alright, Glinda. I've already agreed. Leave me alone about that." Now her voice was merely annoyed.

Glinda sat backwards, a smile on her face and evident in her voice. "Just making sure, Elphie. Just making sure…"

But Elphaba had to ruin the moment, like she always did, by snorting in amusement. "Stop repeating yourself Glinda, it only makes your 'I've gotten smarter' argument seem less truthful."

Glinda's mouth instantly set into a frown, and she crossed her arms, looking out of the window silently.

After a few moments, the driver's voice was heard. "Five minutes to arrival."


	14. Chapter 14

**Well, it's been forever and a day since my last update. Just want to say; SORRY! Real life plus a massive case of writers block is not good for this story. Seriously. I know where I want to go, but there are these tiny little roadblocks in the way. Anyway, sorry for the wait, but since I've overcome this problem, they'll come closer and closer together. **

**As always, reviews are appreciated ;)**

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A figure stood in the second story of Glinda's summer house, looking down through a large window at the long and looped driveway. As the carriage appeared at the end of it, the figure tensed up, watching it.

Then, a voice was heard behind him. "Who the _hell_ are you, and how did you get in??"

Drat. A housekeeper. Unexpected, and an added complication. The figure whirled around, and looked her in the eye. Then, when the housekeeper blinked in surprise, the form disappeared instantly, leaving no trace of anything behind, nothing to let anybody know that it had been there.

The housekeeper placed a hand on her forehead, suddenly lightheaded. "Hmm…" But she wasn't thinking about the figure, no. In reality, she was thinking about the dumplings the cook had just made as an appetizer for that night's dinner.

But the figure wasn't on her mind at all. Not even subconsciously. It was as though it had never happened.

_**X**_

The carriage stopped directly in front of the double doors that made up the entrance to Glinda's summer home, although it was several yards away. Immediately, the door was kicked open by one of Elphaba's steel-toed boots, slamming into the wall of the carriage.

Almost immediately after, Glinda's blonde head popped out, eyeing the door. "Honestly Elphie, do you have to wreck my carriage? At the very least you've ruined the paint, plus my grand entrance-"

Elphaba, from inside the carriage, rolled her eyes, fighting with herself not to kick Glinda out of the carriage the same way she had kicked the door open.

"-is completely ruined, and you know how I absolutely love to impress people with my entrances. Elphaba, are you even listening to me? I do expect-"

It didn't work. Planting her boot on Glinda's back, she gently pushed her out. The sight was comical, Glinda the Good falling out of a carriage, her arms pinwheeling. Even though the petite woman landed somewhat clumsily on her feet, she turned slightly, giving the emerald woman a glare. "That was _not_ called for, Elphie."

Elphaba ignored her friend, instead turning to Fiyero, who hadn't moved the whole carriage ride. Gently placing two fingers at the crest of his neck, she signed in relief as she felt his pulse, considerably stronger than before. Taking his hand in her own once again, Elphaba brought it slowly up to her lips, pressing a kiss to his palm.

"You need to wake up, my hero. Fight it. You aren't going to die, my sweet." Other than a flicker of Fiyero's eyes underneath his eyelids, there was no response. Sighing, Elphaba squeezed his hand, moving her gaze to the small square of sky that was visible from the slammed-open door.

_If anybody can hear me, please help him wake up. Just for a moment. You'll make a believer out of me if he opens his eyes right now._

Finishing her plea, Elphaba moved her eyes to Fiyero's closed eyelids. No recognition whatsoever. Elphaba's mouth set into a firm line. That proved it, there was no god, Unnamed or not.

Bending over her lover, she pressed her lips to his, then, patting his leg and letting go of his hand, she got up from her seat, moving towards the door. Poking her head out, she quickly spotted Glinda a few paces away. "Glinda. Come here." Sighing in frustration when the blonde childishly refused to look at her, she closed her eyes momentarily, then spoke. "Alright, fine. I'm sorry. Now get over here."

Glinda smiled, "Now that wasn't that hard, Elphie, was it? Goodness, you really need to think your actions through." But she walked over to the carriage, peering into it. "Yes?"

"_Move_." Once Glinda was out of the path of the door, Elphaba jumped out, landing gracefully, almost catlike, on the ground. "Get in there, we need to get him out. I can carry him, but you'd be squashed. So help me get him out of that space, and I can do the rest."

Nodding, Glinda climbed into the carriage. Gently moving Fiyero to the ground, she began slowly sliding him out of it. As head, shoulders, torso emerged, Elphaba held him up so as not to jostle his broken ribs.

Once Fiyero was mostly out of the carriage, the emerald woman scooped him up into her arms, so she was carrying him in a modified bridal style that didn't jar his ribs or head.

Glinda's jaw dropped. "Elphie, how are you doing that??"

Elphaba grimaced, "Very difficultly. Now, if you don't mind, show me to where we'll be staying."

Glinda nodded quickly, "Alright, follow me, then." She was getting a bit excited despite herself, because as soon as Fiyero was situated, she would finally get some answers.

Soon, they stood in one of Glinda's many guest rooms, the one they were in being the closest to her own rooms. Ignoring Glinda, once again, Elphaba quickly staggered to the bed, laying Fiyero on it as gently as possible.

Pulling out the bandages that the so called 'doctor' had left, Elphaba held them up to her nose. Yes, she was paranoid, yes, she was sprouting conspiracy theories, but she was not placing anything on her Fiyero that might have been poisoned or tampered with. He was a prince, after all.

Smelling nothing, she began unwrapping his chest, the bandages growing bloodier and bloodier as each layer was unwrapped. But when she finished doing so, a small smile appeared, for the bleeding had stalled. There was progress, thank Oz.

Rewrapping his chest, she lifted Fiyero up slightly, placing a pillow underneath his head. Gently lowering his head onto it, she brushed her knuckles along his cheekbone briefly, and then turned away. Keeping her eyes on the ground, she nodded slowly. "Thank you, Glinda."

Glinda gently took Elphaba's arm, carefully, as though she was afraid Elphaba would slap her for doing so. The emerald woman had, in fact, on several occasions slapped Glinda for physical contact. Elphaba didn't react, so Glinda began steering her out of the room. "You, me, garden, explanation. Seriously, Elphie."

Elphaba let herself be led away, for she didn't know her way around the house yet. She remained silent, not answering, keeping her eyes on the floor as they headed for the garden where nobody would be around to overhear.


	15. Chapter 15

**A thousand appologies.**

**Thank you for sticking it out with me :)**

**The muse has returned.**

* * *

By the time Galinda had led Elphaba to the center of her extravagantly large garden, the green woman had attempted to slip away once and had tried distracting Galinda several times. Glinda, who knew that there were finally no more distractions or loopholes worth waiting for, wasn't having any of it, however. She held Elphaba's hand in her own, and led her to her deemed 'appropriate' and quiet area of the garden.

Upon arriving, Glinda glided over to a shaded bench and sat down elegantly, looking up at Elphaba with an impatient expression.

Elphaba sighed, and took a step towards Glinda. This proved to not be a smart choice, for as she did, sunlight shone upon the left side of her body, highlighting her blood-soaked shoulder.

Glinda's jaw dropped; her eyes seemed to be glued to the wound. Elphie had lied to her!

Elphaba, realizing what had happened, quickly sidestepped, then continued walking towards the blonde. Once she was at the bench, she sat on the left of Glinda to somewhat hide her shoulder. The woman kept her eyes on her lap, not able to look her friend in the eye.

But she could speak. "You wanted an explanation? Well, about a mo-"

Glinda placed her hand on one of Elphaba's, looking at her with sad eyes. "Elphie, you're hurt? Let me see." She got up from the bench, and circled Elphaba, coming up on her left side, frowning in annoyance when the green woman tried to move away from her.

"Glinda, I told you before, it's Fiyero's blood-"

"Then this shouldn't hurt," Glinda interrupted, and placed her hand on the wound.

Elphaba flinched away from the blonde, her teeth showing as if she were an Animal, in a grimace. "Don't. Touch. Me."

Glinda nodded briskly. If the situation hadn't just turned frightening once again, there would have been a smug smirk on her face once again. "That's what I thought, Elphie. Come on, I can live in bliss for a while longer. Your health is the priority here." She grabbed Elphaba's hand, and pulled the taller woman to her feet.

Elphaba's protests were mild. "No, it isn't. That's why-"

Glinda sighed as she heard a no, and then interrupted once again. "I won't try to change your mind, but think of it this way. When Fiyero wakes up, don't you want to be the image of health for him? It will help him if he doesn't have to worry about you."

Elphaba glared down at Glinda, but didn't speak. Her wordlessness acted as permission, and Glinda began walking out of the garden, Elphaba being pulled along right behind her. Even though it wasn't the time, Glinda couldn't help but smile. She knew exactly how to get Elphaba to do what she wanted, and that was to mention Fiyero.

She would wait to hear the explanation.


	16. Chapter 16

**See? Way shorter of a wait. ;)**

* * *

"No."

"But why, Elphie?"

"No."

"A doctor can help a lot more than I can!"

"No. Most medics work for the Wizard, and you wouldn't know which ones don't."

"So?"

"They would report back on my _skin_, Glinda. Honestly, keep up."

Elphaba looked up at Glinda through thin eyes, a glare on her face. She had been successfully herded, for lack of a better word, into one of many, many guest rooms in the mansion-like summer house. Glinda, the blissful blonde that she was, had come up with the idea of getting a doctor to help treat Elphaba.

But of course, it had been shot down.

"Alright, Elphie," Glinda said, obviously thinking about what to do instead. "Are you going to object if I say I'll do my best to help you?"

"I don't need to be helped. I'm fine."

"That's a lie, and we both know it. But since you didn't say the word 'no,' I'm using it as permission. Off with your cape and dress, Elphie."

Elphaba didn't move, merely looked up at Glinda with a complicated expression.

"Sweet Oz, not like _that!_ I just can't dress your shoulder with your clothes in the way! Plus I bet they're sweaty and grimy, so I'll put you in one of my _simpler_ dresses."

Elphaba grimaced openly at the idea of being put in one of Glinda's outfits. Almost all were pink; none were black or dark blue, the colors she normally wore.

"Ugh, _fine_," Elphaba spat out, unfastening her cape and tossing it across the room. The glare was back on her face as she unzipped her dress and stepped out of it.

Glinda smirked, then moved towards Elphaba, looking at the front of her left shoulder, then pushing her forward to look at the back. "Thank Oz, it went through. That means the bullet isn't still in you-"

"I know what it means, Glinda. Just hurry up." Elphaba's voice was weary, as if she was finally letting herself feel pain and exhaustion.

"Alright… Well, from what I know, since it went through where it did, nothing should be broken. Can you move your… of course you can, you carried Fiyero inside, what am I saying? Okay, I'm going to just wrap it up, since it can't be washed, and you're going to have to just not move it if you can help it, alright?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes, pulling her legs in so her chin rested on her knees. "Hurry. Up."

Glinda sighed, deciding to be silent. It would be over faster if she did. Pulling out some bandages that she had grabbed on their way to the room, Glinda began tightly binding up Elphaba's shoulder, wincing as the first layer turned slightly red. At least the wound had clotted; there was hardly any mess other than Elphaba's ruined clothes.

"Alright," Glinda spoke, satisfied with her work, "You stay here, I'll be right back with the dress you'll wear."

Elphaba's eyes widened slightly. "But what if somebody walks _in_."

Glinda was already out the door, and a mostly inaudible reply was all that was heard. "There's minimal staff right now, nobody will. Two clock ticks!"

In record time, but still over the two seconds Glinda had said it would take (obviously), Glinda came back with a white smock without frills.

"Wow, Glinda, I'm impressed. It's even the right height," Elphaba said, putting it quickly on.

"Well like I said, I'm not completely useless. Plus, you forget that fashion is my best subject."

"That isn't a-"

Glinda interrupted. "And now that you're all taken care of, I do believe it's time you told me what the hell went on that put dearest Fiyero in his current condition, why he was under a bridge, who shot you and why, and why did you break into my room." She thought for a moment. "Actually, I'd like a total recap going from when you left me on that carriage going back to Crage Hall."

Elphaba scooted backwards, then sat with her legs crossed. She traced a pattern on the bed for a few moments, sighed, then nodded.

"And no stalling this time."

"I know. Fine."


	17. Chapter 17

_All I can say is; I'm sorry, and my muse is completely back. Damn school took everything out of me. Had no time and creativity. Oh hai summer._

* * *

"Alright, Glinda, I'm going to explain myself. If you interrupt me in any way while I am speaking, I will stop where I am and you will get no further information, alright?"

Glinda opened her mouth to speak, caught herself right before falling into Elphaba's trap, and nodded silently.

Elphaba sighed. Glinda had gained so much since Crage Hall; it would be difficult to manipulate her into letting Elphaba retain her secrets. Oh well. Glinda was her only friend, after all.

"Okay. When the 'Wizard' was speaking to us behind his shield of a skeleton in a rainstorm, I was silent, you might remember. I was thinking. Watching. Realizing what a fake he is. He instructed us to gossip – or his skeleton thingy did anyway – he insulted Doctor Dillamond and _Animals as a whole_. Then he chose a random word of mine – immoral – and then refused to hear anything else I had planned to say to him. And then he recited from the Oziad. What the fuck."

Elphaba paused, to collect her thoughts. She didn't look over at Glinda, who was watching her with a worried expression.

"I remember every detail from that day as a whole. But in short, I realized that if I returned to Crage Hall, to Madame Morrible's school, I would be helping the very being that was tearing Oz apart. I knew I had skills that could help overthr—Glinda, no. I don't care how much you believe the Wizard is good or that he's changed. I don't want to hear that."

Glinda glared at her friend in frustration. In truth, she had opened her mouth to agree with Elphaba. She had realized, much later than Elphaba, that the Wizard _was_ an evil and corrupt man. Unfortunately, she didn't have the power to do much.

Elphaba sighed. Damn, Glinda would have spoken. Oh well.

"I decided to go underground. To see if my skills could be used for the greater good. I spoke the truth when I told you I didn't know where I was going, but it was nowhere near as heroic as I made it out to be. I wandered around the Emerald City's alleys for a couple of days, figuring out where I was meant to go and who I was meant to find.

Then, I came across the Underground. They're the main resistance force working to help the Animals and those wrongly punished and imprisoned by the Wizard. They took me in, fed me, and trained me. I worked my way up for over a year until I could actually carry out pieces of the overall mission. I was an accessory, but that was nothing new. I'd been one my whole life; being what I am for a cause seems like a noble intention."

At this Glinda slowly scooted next to Elphaba, putting her hand on the emerald woman's arm gently, smiling in surprise as her friend let it lie there. But a look up at Elphaba's face made her instantly worried beyond belief.

Elphaba's emotions were showing, plain as day, for the first time in her life. She was taking a trip down memory lane, and it wasn't going to be easy for her. That much was obvious.

But Glinda kept to their bargain and kept her mouth shut, gently stroking Elphaba's bare arm with her thumb whenever it seemed she needed comfort. Often.

"Then Fiyero spotted me in a church. Praying," she chuckled, "Or pretending to. He wouldn't be dissuaded, and followed me back to my living quarters. He was extremely stubborn, wouldn't leave. I allowed him inside under the condition that he never come back. Then I _let _him come back. So stupid. I milked him for information about you, Boq, Nessa, Averic... everybody. It hurt, being cut off from all my old 'friends.'

But then..."

Here Elphaba paused, and looked down at her hands, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. There was a look of emotional pain on her face. Memories were returning to her, of the love that she and Fiyero had shared, and how she had found him. And how he was in a coma.

"Then we became... romantically... involved. _Yes_, Glinda, I realize I was the other woman, that he was married. I loved... love him. I always will. I can't help that.

After a few more visits, I had a mission to complete. I told him to stay at his house, to remain indoors, but he followed me. I missed my mark – who it was I will not say – and I looped back to return to my quarters. He had gone a more direct route, and had been waiting for me. How long, I dare not hazard a guess.

Somehow, the Gale Force had known where I was staying. They were there when I returned, and had beaten Fiyero to within an inch of his life, as you already know. They were dragging him on the ground, bloody and lifeless, and I followed them. As soon as I figured out the opportune moment, I shot them down, one by one." And here Elphaba would not look at Glinda. "They're all dead. I bet the Wizard knows it was me."

She paused, biting her lip as hard as she could to avoid the tears that threatened to spill down her face. She didn't flinch, even when her lip broke underneath her teeth and a thin line of blood began sliding down her chin.

"I dragged him underneath the bridge, and came to you. You retrieved him. That's all you need to know." She hugged herself tightly as a halfhearted way to comfort herself.

Glinda opened her mouth to speak, but no words would come out. Slowly opening her arms, she moved closer to Elphaba and enveloped her into a large hug, her cheek resting on her friend's chest. She didn't care that Elphaba had killed. She didn't care that Elphaba had deserted her.

"Elphaba..."

But Elphaba was beyond words. Swiftly getting to her feet, she pushed Glinda away and wiped the blood from her chin and mouth. Looking back at Glinda for a moment, she shook her head, and then pushed her way out of the room she was in, on her way to Fiyero's room.

Glinda simply watched Elphaba leave, making no move to follow her. After the door closed, she slowly reached up and wiped a bit of Elphaba's blood from her forehead.

It was time for both of them to think.


	18. Chapter 18

_To be honest, this isn't my best. It's more of a bridge into other things I have planned._

* * *

It had almost been a week.

Six long days had passed since Elphaba had explained to Glinda exactly what had happened since staying behind in the Emerald City.

Glinda sighed at the mere thought of what had transpired, what she had been told. She was currently in her dining room, in a slightly more simple gown than the ones she usually wore. She was draped on the table, head resting on the crook of her arm, staring off into space. There wasn't much else to do when you were in semi-hiding and your companion was in a leave of solitude.

Elphaba hadn't come out of her room since the explanation. Not to eat, to go to the bathroom, nothing. It was a sort of hunger strike, Glinda supposed. But she hadn't disturbed her friend. She knew better. Elphaba had done the same exact thing while at Crage Hall, except it had been for a day tops. Even taking the change that would undoubtedly come with the several years of solitude, Glinda had to admit that six days was more than a bit extreme. Something was probably wrong.

With this thought in mind, Glinda dragged herself to her feet and headed up the two flights of stairs. In a matter of moments – record time for the blonde – she was outside Elphaba and Fiyero's door.

Glinda paused. What was she going to do when she got in? She had to think of a way to cheer Elphaba up. She knew that merely comforting Elphaba would, at this point, only draw her further into her depression and possibly pose dangerous for either one of them.

"Oz, I know!" And she scurried away from the door as fast as her little legs could carry her, almost instantly returning with a measuring tape.

She didn't waste time sneaking in. Pushing the doors open, she strode in confidently, a smile on her face. With Elphaba in the current mood she was in, hopefully she wouldn't realize that it was, in fact, completely fake and forced.

When the blonde entered, Elphaba was lying on her side on the bed, facing Fiyero. She jumped up into a sitting position when she heard the doors open while obviously doing her best not to jostle the still form of her lover. She held onto Fiyero's hand tightly as she watched the intruder curiously. There was a look of blatant worry and compassion on her face.

It hurt Glinda to see Elphaba like that, but she made herself continue, for her sake. "Elphaba, have you really been in that same dress this whole time?"Feigning ignorance, she moved towards the bed, gently pulling Elphaba up. "I've decided we're going shopping for a new wardrobe for—"

"No."

"—you." Glinda paused. "Oh well, I expected that. How about you let me take your measurements? That dress is hardly doing you any favors after wearing it for six days straight. I can shop for you."

"I would rather have my old dress, Glinda."

Glinda paused, pretending to be worried about Elphaba's reaction, while in reality she was just trying to keep things seeming as normal as possible. "Well, you see Elphie... they were damaged beyond repair, in my opinion, so I... threw them out?"

It shocked Glinda when all she got was an eye roll. Not a witty comeback or a verbal lashing? Damn, she needed to work her magic, and quickly. Even though she was keeping herself occupied by thinking of ways to help Elphaba help herself and Fiyero, she managed to put herself to another task. Measuring Elphaba. "Alright, off with that thing, and-if-you-give-me-that-look-I-will-slap-you." There wasn't a look. Ha, ha.

After the dress had been removed, Glinda began looping the tape around Elphaba's various sections – bust, waist, hips. Quickly measuring the length of her legs, Glinda put the tape away, unable to kill a slight twinge of jealousy at her friend's perfect figure.

She let Elphaba walk quickly back to the still form of her lover as soon as she was done. She could hardly occupy her friend without having something to do so with. She'd think of other things to do while she was out.

So.

Distraction failed.

Shopping time.


	19. Chapter 19

Glinda gently burst back into Elphaba and Fiyero's room later in the afternoon, a large shopping bag in either hand. "Elphie-ba, I'm back. I bring gifts of good looking clothing!" She dropped the bags in the corner, and looked around for Elphaba.

The bed.

Of course.

Sighing, Glinda dropped all pretenses she was putting on and walked over to the bed.

Gently grabbing Elphaba's hand in her own, Glinda moved to the doorway, pulling Elphaba along with her.

Lowering her voice so as not to be overheard by Fiyero if he could hear them, Glinda looked into Elphaba's eyes and spoke. "Elphie, I need you to pull yourself together for me." She studied her friend for a moment. "Alright, for Fiyero then. He wants you to live your life to the fullest, no matter his condition."

Elphaba didn't speak, merely stared at Glinda with a blank expression.

Glinda paused. "I tell you what. I will brief my personal doctor on our situation. She is completely trustworthy, and upon pain of death would never betray my confidence. She will watch Fiyero around the clock, and immediately notify you of any changes in his state."

Nothing.

"For Oz's sake, Elphie, please. At least speak to me. How about we don't commit to anything before you meet her and speak to her yourself?"

"No."

"Elphie—"

"I. Said. No. Glinda. I don't care who your doctor is, I don't care what her accomplishments are, and I don't care how well she honors her doctor patient confidence. What I do care about is my Fiyero's health. I won't let somebody I've just met take care of him when he's... in his current state of being."

"How about Boq then?"

"No. One, he thinks I'm dead."

"So did I up until a week ago! _Oz_, Elphaba!"

Elphaba's anger was rising, but she managed to keep her voice in check and continue. "Two, he never could keep secrets. Out of sight, out of mind. He even hears my name, my actual name, and memories return and rumors start up again. "

Glinda was, at this point, looking for any possible solution that would satisfy Elphaba. "Nessa?"

Glare.

"Oh."

"Yea." Elphaba blinked. She was free of Nessa, and it would be a long, long while before she reinstated contact with her sister. If she lived that long. The lifestyle Elphaba was living was anything but safe, after all. Glinda wasn't stupid; she knew that Nessa would never be an acceptable solution. Plus, the heavily religious woman would never leave Nest Hardings for Glinda's summer home, to watch a person in a coma. Even if that person was Fiyero.

"Nanny?"

"I am not stealing what's left of Nanny's life for my own gain, Glinda. Plus, she's probably tucked away in Nest Hardings, and I don't want anybody traipsing around in there and disrupting everything my bloodline has achieved. I owe them that much, to not fuck everything up."

Glinda stopped for a moment, thinking of any possible solution.

There was silence for several moments, before Glinda dared break it.

"Elphie, you have to help me out here. Throw me a bone, a lifeline, anything."

Elphaba watched Glinda for a few more moments before giving in. "Alright. There is a girl I worked with in the Underground. I've trusted her with my life more than once, and she's never let it slip. She's perhaps the one person I'd ever trust with Fiyero's life."

Feeling a bit underappreciated, Glinda nodded. "Alright, how do we contact her?"

Wordlessly, Elphaba spun around and walked out onto the balcony, closely followed by a curious Glinda. Within moments a tiny sparrow alighted on her outstretched hand.

"Yes, Miss Fae?"

Elphaba glanced over at Glinda out of the corner of her eye. "My codename." She turned back to the sparrow. "Yes, thank you for following me here, Dahl. I hoped you would be the one to do so. Thank you for keeping my doings to yourself." The sparrow inclined his head. "Any other assistant would have reported everything. I appreciate it."

She paused, biting her already broken lip, then spoke again. "I need you to go to the shack and find Freya. Tell her I need her _now_. A matter of life and death. Find a location for pickup and my friend Glinda will send a coach with a single trusted helper."

Dahl nodded quickly to show he understood. "It will be done immediately."

Elphaba brought him closer to her and pressed her lips to the top of his little head in a farewell kiss. As soon as she had done so she cupped him in both of her hands and whispered something more, something inaudible into her hands, opened them, and threw his tiny form into the air.

Instantly, the tiny little sparrow opened his wings and took off to the south, flying as fast as his tiny little wings could carry him.

Elphaba then walked to the balcony's railing, rested her weight on it, and looked out across Oz and over the horizon. A faint smile appeared at her lips.

She was happy.

Glinda watched her for a moment, and then joined her at the railing. "What?"

"I'm somewhere where I belong. Hardly anybody would have received an Animal escort upon disappearing from the Underground. Especially after hearing what a state my stay was in. I'm important enough to have an eye kept on. And to be assigned to one of the very best, Dahl." Happiness was in her voice.

Glinda frowned in confusion. "He's a sp—" she caught herself, "Sparrow."

"What better Animal to slip under the radar? He studied sparrows for several years and can imitate an animal flawlessly. A feat that is harder than it would seem. And he's completely trustworthy as well."

Glinda moved closer to Elphaba, and hugged her again.

Elphaba instantly pushed Glinda away. "You can leave now."

Glinda pouted, sighed. "Alright Elphaba. Who shall I look for? What does this Freya look like?"

"Brown... light brown hair? Short. Green eyes. Honestly, she'll stand out. You'll know her when you see her."

Glinda nodded. Elphaba had always sucked at descriptions. "Okay, I'll do that. I'll be back to see you tomorrow, okay Elphie?"

Elphaba nodded very slightly.

Glinda walked back into the room, and then moved back on to the balcony. "And eat something. I mean it."

"Okay, okay, I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Glinda walked back into the room, stopping at the doorway for a moment.

"Glinda."

Elphaba strode quickly into the room after Glinda, meeting her in front of the door. She looked the blonde up and down with a blank expression. "I did not appreciate you whispering strength to me these last two nights."

"Strength?"

"'Don't worry about Fiyero' 'Fiyero will live through this' 'He is healing himself as I speak.' Cut it out, I don't appreciate it."

Glinda frowned, genuine confusion showing through. "Um... Elphie? I hadn't talked to you in six days up until this morning. That wasn't me..."

"Of course it was you, who else could it be?"

"I don't know. Maybe you're imagining things. Eat, change your clothing, and get some sleep, Elphie-ba." Swiftly pecking Elphaba on the cheek, Glinda exited the room, closing the door quietly behind herself.

Elphaba stayed motionless for a moment, and then moved back to Fiyero, lying down beside him once again.

Outside a window, a silhouette of a figure, backlit by the setting sun, watched silently, motionlessly, unnoticed by all. Taking precaution against being spotted, the figure smiled hollowly, and slipped away.


	20. Chapter 20

_Finals week is this week, so it is a possibility that updates will not be every other day. I haven't forgotten about this story, I just need to study._

* * *

The next morning, bright and early, Glinda awoke and went through all of her usual morning procedures as usual, but sped up as much as she could. Her morning shower only took twenty minutes, and doing her hair only thirty. After choosing a gown on the more simple side of her wide range of outfits, she slipped on a pair of heels and exited her room.

Breakfast could wait, it was Elphie time.

Once she reached the room, Glinda knocked gently on the door. No answer. Glinda frowned, and glanced impatiently over at a grandfather clock down the hallway. Noon. Damn, not so bright and early. But Elphaba woke up with the sun, always had. So why wasn't she answering?

Glinda knocked again. And again. And again, with a steadily increasing crescendo, before she decided to risk Elphaba's anger and opened the door herself, flinching when it bounced against the wall and moved back to hit her.

She pushed it away, scanning the room.

The bed. There was no green figure on the bed. She was always on the bed. Always.

Glinda scanned the room thoroughly without moving, rotating in a complete circle. No Elphaba whatsoever.

A slight panic hit Glinda as she ran to the bed. If Fiyero had died there was no telling what Elphaba would do. Revenge, suicide, returning to the Underground. Anything was an option, Glinda knew. Fiyero was the only thing keeping Elphaba together at this point.

Reaching Fiyero, Glinda gently leaned over him, grabbing his wrist gently with two fingers. A pulse. Stronger than it had been, too. Good, good. She pecked him on the forehead and pushed his hair back from his forehead before straightening and scanning the room again. He wasn't dead, Elphaba would still be there, worried as always.

Scan scan scan.

Oz, the balcony!

Glinda rushed out, immediately spotting the dark form of Elphaba on the side of the balcony. She was curled up in a ball, as if for heat , eyes closed, motionless.

Fuck.

Glinda moved to Elphaba, kneeling at her side and rolling her over so she was on her back. She placed two fingers underneath Elphaba's jaw, smiling in relief as she felt a pulse. But Elphaba's lips were red. The opposite of green. She was frozen.

"Elphie... Time to wake uppy..." Glinda gently shook Elphaba, who was stiff, but still moved where Glinda pushed her. Fighting back the bile that threatened to rise in her throat, Glinda gently slapped Elphaba across the face, something that always woke her up while at Shiz.

Still nothing.

FUCK.

Gently pulling Elphaba's torso up off of the ground and holding her, Glinda gave her a bear hug in an attempt to warm her. She pulled away when she felt Elphaba tense up further, smiling slightly. This was what Elphaba did when waking up. But Glinda was still worried as hell.

"Elphie, Elphie, time to wake up. No more sleeping, rise and shine—" Glinda was cut short by Elphaba suddenly reaching up and shoving her face away. The rest of Glinda's small body quickly followed, but she instantly moved back.

"OW! Now look what you've done, Elphieba! Come on, wake up, I'm warming you up if it kills me."

Elphaba rubbed her eyes, looking up confusedly at Glinda for a moment before snapping back into reality and looking off into the distance.

Glinda frowned, getting to her feet. "Come on Elphaba, get up, you're going inside, _now_."

"I'm fine Glinda."

"What in Oz name were you doing sleeping outside Elphie? It's the middle of winter, you cannot risk your life like that!"

"I was waiting for Dahl to come back. I must have dozed off." Elphaba got to her feet, genuinely apologetic now that she saw how upset Glinda was. "I wasn't bothered by the cold."

"The hell you weren't! You might have frostbite for all I know! INSIDE. NOW." And Glinda herded her inside.

Sitting the green woman down in a chair, she quickly moved to the walk in closet that was in every one of her rooms in her house, and grabbed several blankets. Glinda moved quickly back to Elphaba, beginning to wrap them around her. "Oz, your hands are like ice, Elphaba. What were you thinking? This is the second time you've fallen asleep outside." She took Elphaba's hands in her own, rubbing them in an attempt to warm them up.

Elphaba didn't look at Glinda; her eyes were going from their hands to the window, back and forth.

"Well Elphie? What is it?"

Elphaba shook her head. "I was waiting for Dahl to come back. He should have been here by now."

"Give him time, Elphaba. His little Sparrow wings can only fly so fast."

"Yea." Elphaba got to her feet and moved back to Fiyero's still form. Hesitantly perching on the side of the bed, she stroked the side of his face, noticing it was warmer than usual. Fuck. She didn't let Glinda know, however.

"What time did you fall asleep, Elphaba?"

She didn't look up from Fiyero. "Four in the morning? Five? Six? The sky was just beginning to lighten, I think." She yawned fakely. "Can I sleep Glinda? We'll talk more tonight."

Glinda frowned. "Alright, Elphie. I guess you can sleep... Just not outside, okay?" Elphaba nodded. "I'll come back later." Not knowing what else to say, she simply walked to the door and slipped quietly out.

As soon as she was gone Elphaba got to her feet and moved into the connecting bathroom. Now, how to treat a fever.


	21. Chapter 21

_Oops, 8 months... I'm 3 chapters into this, know exactly where it's going, and will be writing nonstop for the duration of spring break. There won't be any gaps, and an update every 4-5 days. Stick it out with me, I promise I won't leave you hanging again :)_

* * *

Over the next two days Glinda tried repeatedly to bring her friend out of the solitude she had confined herself to. Every time she tried she was dismissed or ignored, with the same comment made – I'm not leaving until Freya is here. It was really quite frustrating, but Glinda hated to admit that she would be doing the same thing – a Glindafied version – if the roles were reversed.

Elphaba really was quite strong, Glinda had to admit. Especially with such a grim outlook facing Fiyero. So she didn't take her dismissals too personally, and was at the point of just checking in to make sure that Elphie didn't fall asleep on the balcony again and to make her eat. Without Glinda, Elphie wouldn't have been doing either of those things correctly.

On the evening of the second day waiting for Dahl to return with a message, Glinda entered the room once again, scanning to make sure her friend was inside. She was, bundled up on a chair facing the glass doors that lead to the balcony.

Glinda frowned slightly, moving closer to Elphaba and perching on the arm of the chair. She never got cold... why was she bundled up?

"Are you okay Elphie?"

The green woman didn't acknowledge Glinda, her eyes never stopping scanning the sky outside. "I have a slight cold. Nothing bad." And she sneezed, an annoyed look appearing on her face at having to look away from the sky for a split second.

Glinda nodded to herself, and there was silence for several moments. After it had become great enough for her to feel a bit awkward, the blonde looked around the room, her eyes resting on Fiyero.

"How is he?"

And Elphaba jumped to her feet as she always did when Glinda brought up Fiyero. Taking one last look outside, she silently turned and moved to the bed, kneeling beside her lover. She rested her wrist on his forehead, and then took his wrist between her fingers. A pulse. She leaned so her cheek was over his mouth anyway, not straightening until she felt his breath.

"I think he's doing okay. I hope." As time went on, she was becoming less and less sure of herself. Nothing she was doing was really helping Fiyero.

Glinda watched Elphaba, a frown on her face as she watched her move back to the chair. There wasn't really much she could do for her friend, at least not until Freya arrived and she could take her places to take her mind off of this situation.

She put a smile on her face and moved so she was standing in front of Elphaba, who finally looked at her with a blank expression.

"You know what I'm going to ask, Elphie. Did you eat?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"Some bread and an apple."

This was, unfortunately, progress. This was the first time Glinda hadn't had to feed Elphaba, that she had eaten on her own.

"Did you wash today?"

"Yes."

"Are those new clothes?"

"Yes."

Glinda pulled Elphaba gently up to her feet, hugging her tightly, resting the side of her head right beneath her friend's chin. "Elphie." But she didn't know what else to say, so she pulled away and moved back to the door. "Sleep early tonight, okay?"

Now that she could see outside again, Elphaba resumed scanning the sky once again. "No promises."

Glinda sighed, nodded, and exited the room. Maybe Dahl would come tomorrow?

After several hours passed with Elphaba doing nothing more than scanning the sky, she decided that nothing was going to happen that night. So, getting to her feet and taking her blanket with her, she walked over to the bed.

Once there, Elphaba stopped suddenly, and just looked down at Fiyero for several minutes. She wasn't helping him. He wasn't getting better.

So she wouldn't sleep with him that night.

Leaning down, Elphaba kissed her lover's lips very quickly and gently, and then laid her blanket over his still frame. Then, kneeling, she spoke to him.

"Yero, I need you to try and get better, my love. I'll try and change, maybe that will help. Soon, Freya will be here. She'll know what to do. I love you. Please... Don't leave me." She kissed him again, then brushed away a tear that managed to spill over before it could burn her.

"I'm not going to sleep in here tonight, Yero. I'll check in every other hour though, and I'll be back at dawn. I love you. Keep... Don't give up on me."

She watched him for a few more minutes, and then suddenly got to her feet and walked swiftly out of the room, closing the door silently behind herself.

Then, she moved towards Glinda's room, glancing at a grandfather clock as she walked. Ten. Glinda would obviously be asleep. She tended to sleep early when there wasn't a party on that night.

She found the elegant double doors that would obviously lead to her bedroom, and slipped inside silently. Elphaba moved to her friend's bed, nudging her awake gently. It didn't take much, because Glinda wasn't used to being awaken by anything other than her alarm clock in this house.

Glinda looked up at Elphaba, a confused expression on her face. "Elphie? What is it?" She halfway sat up. "Is Fiyero alright?"

Elphaba didn't move, her expression unchanging. "He's fine. Can I...?"

Glinda might have been sleepy, but she wasn't stupid. She nodded. "Of course. Do you want me to sleep somewhere else?" Oh the sacrifices she made for her friend.

Elphaba moved around to the other side of the bed. "No. You can stay."

And she got into bed and pulled the blankets over herself, keeping her back to Glinda. Soon, she was asleep, having let herself feel the exhaustion from several sleepless nights. But her body would wake her up every other hour, just like she had promised Fiyero. It was good at being its own alarm clock.

Glinda faced Elphaba, watching her sleep. When her friend turned over onto her other side, Glinda bit her lip when she realized that she was crying in her sleep; tears were slowly sliding down her face. Quickly grabbing a handkerchief from her nightstand, she busied herself dabbing Elphaba's tears away before they could burn her.

This lasted for a little over an hour, and then Glinda too fell asleep.


	22. Chapter 22

_I know it's icky and short. This is a one time thing, trust me. :)_

_Reviews are appreciated on all chapters! Not just this shorty one! :)_

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Elphaba woke up exactly on schedule: 12 o'clock. She swiftly got out of bed and was instantly out the door and walking back to Fiyero's bedroom.

Once there, she walked to his bed and placed her wrist on his forehead. Normal, thank Oz. Then, she placed her first two fingers on his wrist, smiling despite herself when she could feel his pulse beating stronger than before. Elphaba leaned down, her cheek right above his mouth once again. Breath.

Elphaba kissed Fiyero's lips gently and straightened. "I love you Yero, I'll be back in two hours. Stay strong."

And she exited the room quickly, moving back to Glinda's room and getting back into bed. As she did so, she looked over at Glinda, who had fallen asleep with the handkerchief in her hand. Confused, Elphaba picked it up, realizing what her friend had done when she felt a slight discomfort in her fingertips. It was damp.

Placing it on Glinda's nightstand, Elphaba pulled the blankets over herself, feeling where her tears would have fallen. Oh, so she _had_ burned herself. From the pain that was coming from it, only a few had traveled down her face. Glinda had taken care of the rest. She glanced at Glinda before closing her eyes and forcing herself to fall back asleep. It was 12:30. She would wake up at 2:30.


	23. Chapter 23

_Hey guys! Didn't upload yesterday, but this is still in the 4-5 day window :) Lots of you are reading... Review please? :) Thanks! And look, it's longer!_

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Dahl arrived back at the balcony, breathing heavily. He had had a very difficult journey, for reasons he would tell Fae when he saw her. Catching his breath, the Sparrow looked into the window, blinking in surprise when he saw that the lights were off. Was she asleep? No, there was only one figure on the bed. Then where was she?

He flew to the glass door, hovering in front of it as he scanned the room. She definitely wasn't in there. Flying back to the balcony railing, he scanned the countryside, surprised to see a fire burning in the distance. That hadn't been there before; he had flown over that very piece of land.

Jumping into the air, Dahl flew quickly towards the source of light.

X

Two in the morning.

_Elphaba, wake up. Wake up. You need to wake up. The Bird is back._

Elphaba, only half awake, felt around for Glinda's face. Once she had found it, she slapped her friend across her cheek and rolled over. She could feel it wasn't time to wake up yet, why was Glinda trying to get her out of bed?

Glinda had been asleep, and the slap had very obviously woken her up. "OW! _Elphie!!_ Why did you _slap_ me??"

Elphaba was unfortunately awakened anyway by the shrill sound of Glinda's yells. She opened her eyes and looked back over at Glinda. "I didn't want you to wake me up. Thanks for doing that anyway."

Glinda stopped yelling, a confused (yet still offended) look appearing on her face. "Elphie, I was sound asleep. You woke me up by slapping me."

Elphaba was silent.

"You were dreaming, and now I'm going to have a handprint on my face!" She was being overdramatic, as usual. "So if you don't mind, I'm going back to bed!" And she made a show of rolling so her back was to Elphaba and snuggling into the blankets.

Elphaba remained silent, slowly sitting up. She was also confused, and then her instincts kicked in. _Fiyero_.

Throwing the door open, Elphaba sprinted to Fiyero's bedroom, entering silently and running to his side. She quickly went through her routine checking of his temperature, pulse and breathing – all were normal.

"Then what...?" She went through what her dream had told her. The Bird... Why hadn't her dream told her Dahl's name? She obviously knew it.

Nevertheless, Elphaba moved to the door, opening it without hesitation and stepping out onto the balcony. She looked around, scanning the sky. A smile appeared on her face when she saw Dahl's form flying quickly towards her, but it dropped when she saw that he was fleeing an owl. She could tell by its behavior it wasn't an Animal.

Elphaba held out her hand and Dahl quickly landed in it, and she brought him closer to herself to protect him as she held out her other hand at the owl.

"Go!" The owl stopped suddenly, as if forced, and instantly flew in the opposite direction.

Elphaba watched it go, and then walked inside, Dahl in her hand. She closed and latched the door, and the Sparrow flew out of her hand and onto the chair she had been keeping watch in.

Elphaba shook her head, sitting in the chair and looking at Dahl when he moved to the arm of it.

"Are you okay?"

The Sparrow nodded. "Yes. Look out the window and tell me if you see anything out of the ordinary."

Elphaba obediently did so. "No... Why?"

"Neither did I when I first arrived here."

"You were kept waiting? I apologize, I had fallen asleep in another room."

He nodded his acceptance. "Then I looked back and there was a small fire in an area I had just flown over. I flew back to investigate and there was a deserted campsite. I could find no evidence of who had been there, so I returned. As I was flying that damned owl appeared and pursued me, and while I was evading him I looked back and the fire was out."

Elphaba frowned. "I don't like it."

"Me either, but that was only an owl, so he won't be reporting you. I doubt anybody else here would, or you would not be here."

Elphaba was silent for several moments. "And what about Freya? Is she coming?"

Dahl sighed, and shook his head. "No. She wasn't at headquarters and the council told me nothing other than she was otherwise engaged. I had to track her down myself, and she's busy in a several week long mission. She sends her condolences and says that she would help if she could."

Elphaba was silent again. "Okay. I can't ask any more than that. Thank you Dahl." Pause. "And the council?"

"They understand your reasons for leaving, have no new missions and no punishments, and eagerly await your return, whenever that may be."

She nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Dahl. You can stay if you like, wherever you want save this room. I'm protective of him."

Dahl looked over at Fiyero's still form. "Freya suggested that I complete your proposed task, and I agree. If you like, I can watch over him for you. If something were to go wrong – which it won't – I would be able to reach you faster than Freya would have been anyway."

Silence, and then a smile. "I would be honored to accept your offer, Master Dahl. I trust you. But now you can sleep. I'll look after him until tomorrow and then we'll figure out how we'll do this. You may stay in here if you like."

The Sparrow inclined his head and flew into the attached closet. Making a makeshift nest amongst the clothing, he soon fell asleep.

Elphaba moved over to Fiyero, taking the chair with her. Placing it beside the bed, she sat in it and gently held Fiyero's hand, just watching him. She wouldn't be getting any more sleep tonight anyway.


	24. Chapter 24

Elphaba stayed there, practically motionless, holding Fiyero's hand through the night. She could feel his steady pulse and as a result didn't need to continue checking his breathing and temperature. If he worsened she would do her best to help.

But he didn't. Fiyero wasn't really changing, as far as Elphaba could see. He was in a constant state of unconsciousness, looking as though he were sleeping. But she could never forget that he wasn't waking up any time soon.

The woman glared to herself as her shoulder started to sting once again. She hated being alone, because that was when her body reminded her of its abuse. But then again, Elphaba didn't particularly enjoy being around Glinda either.

Once she noticed the sky beginning to lighten, Elphaba looked over at the clock without moving her head. Really? Only six? She couldn't justify waking Glinda up until at least nine, and she would be risking her eardrums at that. Any later and she could very well lose her mind, however.

Just then, she heard a rustling in the closet and instinctively tensed up, her body ready for battle. A second later she realized who it had to be – Dahl – Elphaba relaxed and listened for his entrance, never looking away from Fiyero's hand.

She heard him fly to the bed and looked sharply in the Bird's direction, making sure he didn't land on or jostle Fiyero. Good. She returned her eyes to her lover.

The two sat there in silence for several moments, both watching Fiyero..

Dahl finally broke it. "Who is he?"

The woman blinked, inwardly hardening. A member of the Underground should _know_ better than to ask another of their personal life. How _dare_ he. She distracted herself from saying something along those lines by cursing at the little Bird in her head, and then once that didn't work, thinking about what she and Fiyero would do when he woke up. And how angry Glinda would be if Elphaba kicked the only option in watching over Fiyero out of the house.

Once she had calmed herself down, Elphaba squeezed Fiyero's hand and gently let go, moving to the door. "I'll show you where food is so you can help yourself in the future."

Dahl nodded; although he had hoped otherwise, the Bird had expected to be met with silence. Fae was one of the most secretive of the Underground, save the council.

Elphaba got to her feet and strode to the door, opening it and exiting and never looking back at Fiyero. Whenever she had to leave him she wouldn't look back, for it would cause her to stay. It was so hard to leave him. He could die while she was doing something else. Or she could miss his awakening.

Elphaba lead Dahl to the kitchen and showed him where Bird-friendly food – bread, crackers, fruit, ect. – were located.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to speak to Miss Upland about something." Seeing Dahl nod, Elphaba inclined her head and backed out of the room.

Once she was out of the kitchen, Elphaba turned and walked quickly towards Glinda's room. She glanced at a clock. Seven. Oh well, she really didn't want to wait any longer.

Pushing the door to the blonde's room open with a bang, Elphaba moved to Glinda's bed, sitting down ungracefully on the blonde's stomach.

Glinda woke up suddenly, a pretty frown appearing on her face when she saw it was Elphaba. "This is the second time you've woken me up unpleasantly, Elphie!" She tried unsuccessfully to wiggle out from underneath Elphaba. "You're crushing me!" She said dramatically. "Get off!"

Elphaba couldn't help but smirk - the blonde always could lift her spirits, if only for a moment.

"Okay, okay," Elphaba said, getting to her feet. She patted Glinda's stomach gently. "I'm sorry."

Glinda sniffed prettily and then looked over at her clock. "Oh my _Oz_ it's seven in the morning! _Elphie!!!!_"

Elphaba stuck a finger in her ear that was closest to Glinda, making a face. "It's important, Glinda."

"Oh." Instantly, the blonde stopped making a fuss. She got to her feet and flounced over to her mirror, inspecting her hair. She knew whatever was important wasn't anything horrible, or Elphaba wouldn't have tormented her for those few seconds. And she wouldn't have smirked. "Does my hair look horrible? I hate bedhead..."

Sticking her tongue out at her reflection, Glinda walked into her bathroom, and drawers could be heard opening and closing.

Elphaba sat down on the bed, her hands in her lap. "Dahl is back."

Glinda stayed in the bathroom. "Really? Yay! What did he say? When's that girl coming?"

"She isn't."

"Sad! Why not?"

"It doesn't matter. Dahl is going to look after Fiyero for me so I can leave that room." She didn't even try to make her voice enthusiastic.

"Is that a good idea? He's a Bird, Elphie. A small one at that."

Elphaba leaned forward, putting her head in her hands. She didn't have the energy to bicker with the blonde. "Don't start with me Glinda, I'm not in the mood. Don't doubt him."

Glinda rolled her eyes at her reflection. Her hair was beautiful again and now she was putting on a bit of mascara and eyeliner – essentials that had to be put on before anybody would see her.

"And be nice to him. He doesn't have to be here. For Oz's sake, he doesn't even know everything."

"Alright, alright, alriiight, Elphie. Sheesh, I know how to be nice!" There was an exaggerated gasp, and then Glinda appeared in the doorway of her bathroom, a grin on her face. "Does this mean I get to take you out today?"

Elphaba didn't move for a moment, and then slowly sat back up, sniffing. She kept an emotionless look on her face. "I suppose it does."

Glinda let loose a high note, causing Elphaba to jump slightly. Skipping over to her friend, Glinda hugged her tightly. "I'm going to get you to have fun, Elphie."

Elphaba pried herself loose and got to her feet, walking to the door. As she exited she called out over her shoulder.

"Good luck with that. I'll be in Fiyero's room if you need me."


End file.
